A Bike Boom Backlash
Yet according to a recent week-long investigative series by Tony Aiello, a reporter with New York City’s CBS-2, the cycling boom is breeding a backlash. Entitled “Bike Bedlam,” the segments turned a critical eye on reckless riders who flout traffic laws, and profiled a young father who was killed by a cyclist riding the wrong way on a one-way street in midtown Manhattan. A former bike shop owner declared that cyclists were “way out of control.”
The reaction of the New York City biking community was mixed, with some cycling bloggers decrying the series for perceived sensationalism, and other admitting that too many cyclists were, in fact, ignoring traffic laws, often flagrantly.
“Cyclists, clean up your freaking act,” wrote Jen Benepe, a cycling blogger.
The Web site BikeBlogNYC urged “fellow cyclists” to heed the laws of the road. “Take those flip-flops off, put down that cell phone, put on a helmet, ride in the correct direction and pay attention,” read a recent post.
So, exactly how dangerous are New York City cyclists to pedestrians? When it comes to fatalities, not very: according to statistics compiled by the city’s Department of Transportation, just 11 pedestrians died as a result of crashes with cyclists between 1996 and 2005 — a tiny fraction of the 256 New York City pedestrians killed by drivers in 2009 alone.